By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage again squashed all
competing programming Monday night, weighing in with
an average of 684,184 D-FW viewers from 7 to 11 p.m.

Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers' 15-8
drubbing at the hands of the Angels drew 121,934
viewers. Ratings for ESPN, which also had the game,
weren't immediately available. But judging from
previous ratings data, they'll likely be lower than
the FSS home-grown telecast. Even without "Cookie
Talk" anymore.

The most-watched competing prime-time programs on
ABC, CBS or Fox were repeats of CBS' Mike &
Molly and Hawaii Five-O, each with 88,063
viewers. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds,
the Olympics amassed 307,421 viewers. CBS' 2 Broke
Girls was the top rival broadcast network draw
with 38,428 viewers in this key demographic.

In Monday's local news derby results, NBC basked in a
comfy Olympics halo effect, sweeping the 6 a.m. and 6
p.m. competitions in total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

The Peacock added a 5 p.m. win among
25-to-54-year-olds while tying WFAA8 for first at
that hour in total viewers.

The downsized three-way 10 p.m. competition went to
CBS11 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54
measurement.

Goosmann confirmed via email that he'll be working in
real estate, with a home base of Mansfield/Arlington.

Williams, hired as a sports anchor/reporter, will be
setting sail after joining CW33 a little more than a year
ago from Fox affiliate KJTV-TV in Lubbock.
Williams, a Grand Prairie native, so far has not
returned a phone call and Facebook message asking
for comment. Sources say he'll be moving to Omaha,
Nebraska to take a sports-related position.

Goosmann joined KDAF-TV (Ch. 33) eight years ago,
before it became a CW station. He previously worked
at KTVT-TV (now billed as CBS11) for 10 years.

In January of 2009, Goosmann was supplanted as CW33's
featured forecaster by Rebecca Miller, who earlier
had been dropped from NBC5's early morning team after
a long run.

"You and I both know of the changes in our industry
over the years," Goosmann said in an email reply.
"And for personal reasons, mainly dealing with my
family, I chose not to pursue a full-time
meteorologist position outside of the area. Instead I
chose to get into the real estate business . . .
Business is good, and getting better. I was working
seven days a week between the two jobs and that was
beginning to take a toll on me."

Goosmann emphasized that "weather is in my blood and
always will be. I hope that I can freelance on
occasion at any station in the Metroplex that may
need someone on short notice. I'm pretty sure I'm
familiar with the area!"

***In a harbinger of what could be coming at
CW33, Monday's 9 p.m. newscast went anchor-less after
both Walt Maciborski and Amanda Salinas called in
sick. Reporter Catherine Bilkey also served as an
off-camera narrator at times while meteorologist
Miller noted before her closing forecast, "Well, I
feel kinda by myself out here."

She then signed off the newscast by herself, urging
viewers to watch again Tuesday because "you never
know what you're gonna get when you tune in."

Sources close to the situation say that Maciborski
and Salinas in fact were sick. But the newscast went
pretty seamlessly without them, a fact that may not
be lost on the station's cost-hacking Tribune parent
company. Said one staffer who requested anonymity,
"We bet Walt and Amanda never call in sick
again!"

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
D-FW's Summer Olympics viewership isn't high enough
to rank among the 20 top-scoring TV markets. But
that's small comfort to competing programming,
including the Texas Rangers.

Friday night's opening ceremonies from London
averaged 894,181 D-FW viewers on NBC, with only the
Yu Darvish-powered Rangers' loss to the White Sox
drawing anything resembling a crowd. The game
averaged 216,771 viewers on TXA21, a modest total
compared to most Rangers outings this season.

Of the Olympics viewers Friday, 387,478 were in the
advertiser-prized 18-to-49 age range. That's a decent
but by no means great percentage.

Saturday's prime-time Olympics coverage, marking the
first full day of competition, dropped to 663,862
total viewers before Sunday's popped back up to
819,666. The Saturday and Sunday night Rangers games,
both on Fox Sports Southwest, respectively averaged
135,482 and 149,030 viewers to rank second in the
prime-time Nielsens.

The overall top-rated TV market for the first three
nights of the London Olympics is Salt Lake City, with
San Diego close behind. D-FW, the No. 5 market, did
not make the top 20 list on any of the three nights,
at least in percentages of viewers watching. Then
again, neither did the only four markets with more
available viewers than D-FW -- New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago and Philadelphia. Austin is the only Texas
city in the top 20 -- placing 16th after the initial
three nights.

NBC says that the national average of 35.8 million
viewers for the first three nights is the highest in
history for any Summer Olympics. The 1996 Atlanta
games currently are running second.

In Friday's local news derby results, Fox4 swept the
6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions in both total viewers
and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

CBS11 ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers while
Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold in a downsized three-way
race. Both winning totals were sharply deflated by
competing Olympics opening ceremonies coverage, which
ran from 6:30 to 11 p.m.

NBC5 won at 6 p.m. in total viewers, but Fox4 again
was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
D-FW's dean of early morning traffic reporters.
"Gridlock Buster" Tammy Dombeck, brought a halt to
her days at NBC5 Friday morning.

As previously reported, the 12-year
veteran and her station reached an impasse in new
contract negotiations, prompting management to let
her go. It was the same story with wake-up anchor
Brendan Higgins in January 2010. He recently began
co-anchoring rival CBS11's early morning
newscasts.

"She's great at what she does and she has a heckuva
smile that she brings us every morning," co-anchor
Deborah Ferguson said before Dombeck took her final
turn in front of a traffic map at 6:56 a.m. Friday.

"She is heading on to greener pastures," added
newcomer Mark Hayes.

Dombeck in fact didn't want to leave the station. A
standard non-compete clause in her contract will now
keep her off the air for a minimum of six months
before she can appear on the air with a rival D-FW
station.

NBC5 showed a montage of Dombeck's career at NBC5
before she joined Ferguson, Hayes and meteorologist
Samantha Davies at the anchor desk.

"It was no an easy decision. You all know that," she
told them. "But I just want to thank the viewers so
much for your graciousness and your loyalty."

She then blew a kiss to "Daddy Dombeck," currently
recovering in an area hospital.

Dombeck also noted that "you're going to have a whole
new team here soon. Gosh, I mean, it's going to be
awesome. I might not be up watchin'."

That brought laughs all around, even though Dombeck
and Davies might well have been crying on the inside.

Davies, who's been filling in for the sacked Jennifer
Lopez since March, learned recently that she will not
get the full-time early morning job. NBC5 instead has
hired veteran meteorologist Rick
Mitchell of Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV. His first
day at the station will be August 22nd, but the
station says he'll make his on-air debut at a
later date.

Beginning Monday, Andi Parker will be doing NBC5's
traffic reports as an interim replacement. The
station has used her before on a part-time basis.
Vice president of programming Brian Hocker said that
a permanent traffic reporter hasn't been hired yet.

Dombeck closed out her dozen years at NBC5 by telling
viewers, "I'm definitely not gonna say goodbye. I'll
just say, 'We'll see you later.' " Then it was
quickly on to NBC's Today show, which is in
London for the Olympics.

NBC5 at least gave Dombeck a chance to say goodbye.
Earlier this month, another 12-year D-FW television
veteran, WFAA8 anchor Debbie Denmon, was
simply called in by management and told that her
contract wasn't being renewed. She was out the
door within the hour. Denmon previously had lost a
discrimination suit against the station. Call it
payback.

Doocy then talked up a few of the first-day
highlights Friday morning during a phone interview on
Good Day.

Their initial destination, Tucumcari, NM, is briefly
mentioned in the Linda Ronstadt song "Willin,' " It's also home base for
the Lizard Lounge, where every Thursday is karaoke
night. But Doocy said they were too pooped to
participate. So after an economy dinner, the boys
retired to their undisclosed lodging for the
night. Doocy noted that a complimentary breakfast
aided the effort to save his Dallas-based station
a few bucks during their projected 22 hours of
driving to Oxnard. The scheduled Friday night stop
will be in Flagstaff, AZ before they hit the
backstretch to Cowboys camp on a nearly 1,500-mile
jaunt.

As previously detailed, Doocy and
Hayes have hit the road in a Fox4 company car
after management balked at the expense of plane
and rental car costs. His competitors are flying
as usual, with WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen
joking about Doocy's mode of travel on Wednesday's
newscasts. In the comments section on
unclebarky.com, Hansen also noted that he'll be
paying for Doocy's drinks -- "like I always do."

This will be his 19th Cowboys camp, Doocy noted on
Friday's Good Day. He's never taken this kind
of long and winding road before, but obviously is
making the best of it. You do what you have to do to
survive in the ever-challenging TV business. And
unlike Dombeck and Denmon, at least Doocy still has a
job.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
The ratings mostly slept in Thursday, gearing up for
Friday's big sports doubleheader -- NBC's coverage of
the Olympics' opening ceremony and another Yu-fueled
Texas Rangers game on TXA21.

Another CBS entry, Big Brother 14, easily led
all Thursday programming in the advertiser-craved
18-to-49-year-old demographic, with haul of 105,676.

In contrast, the premiere of CBS' 3, another
looking for love "reality" concoction, came up DOA at
9 p.m. with just 54,193 total viewers, 22,416 of the
18-to-49 persuasion. That plunked 3, whose
number may already be up, into fourth place among the
Big Four broadcast networks.

In local news derby results, WFAA8 swept the 10 p.m.
competitions in both total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

Fox4 likewise ran the table at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.
WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. while
tying for the top spot with Fox4 in the 25-to-54
demographic.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
NBC's Olympics telecasts likely will be ruling
prime-time from Friday's opening ceremonies through
mid-August. But the Texas Rangers got in one last
lick Wednesday with their last pre-Summer Games game.

Texas' 5-3 home win over Boston on Fox Sports
Southwest topped all of Wednesday's TV fare with
270,964 D-FW viewers. The Rangers also had the most
advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds -- 105,676.

Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast and CBS11's syndicated
Wheel of Fortune placed second in total
viewers (203,223 apiece) while Fox4's 10 p.m. news
was the runner-up with 18-to-49-year-olds (80,058).

NBC's 9 p.m. Jimmy Fallon special had just 88,063
total viewers, losing half the audience from NBC's
preceding America's Got Talent (176,127
viewers). It fared a bit better with
18-to-49-year-olds, running third in its time slot
behind the Rangers and Fox4's news.

In Wednesday's four-way local news derby results,
CBS11 took the 10 p.m. gold in total viewers, but
Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main
advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while
WFAA8 did likewise at 6 p.m.

Mike Doocy will travel by land to Cowboys
training camp. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
At least he's not having to hitchhike. Well, that's
not in the game plan anyway.

While his competitors leave on jet planes this
weekend for Dallas Cowboys training camp, veteran
Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy will be a ground
trooper.

Playing along, Good Day co-anchor Lauren
Przybyl asked him during a live segment Wednesday, "I
hear you're driving. Is that true?"

"You waste an opportunity by actually flying over all
these states on the way to California," Doocy
replied. "Let's drive through and get a little feel
for the nation . . . It's all about America. It's all
about loving America. That's why we're driving to
Cowboys training camp."

Not quite. Doocy's a good and loyal soldier who will
have to stand by this story. In reality, sources
close to the situation say that Fox4 management
didn't want to spring for two round trip plane
tickets (for Doocy and his photographer) plus a
rental car for the planned two-week stay in Oxnard,
CA. Budgets are tight, even when the Cowboys are at
stake and Fox4 carries the majority of their regular
season games.

So it was strongly suggested that Doocy and his
designated photo-journalist drive the nearly 1,500
miles from Dallas to Oxnard, where the first full
practice is scheduled for Monday after owner Jerry
Jones' annual state-of-the-team speech on the day
before.

They'll be making stops in New Mexico and Arizona
during the three-day jaunt, Doocy said on Good
Day. And their mode of transportation will be a
Fox4 company vehicle, not the longhorn-adorned pink
convertible the station is using to illustrate the
trip.

Doocy estimated it will take 22 hours driving time,
and he plans to regularly update his travels via
Twitter and Facebook. Since it's a company vehicle,
Fox4 won't have to pay mileage. Lodging enroute is
likely to fall somewhere in the vicinity of Best
Western and Motel 6. And maybe the boys can split
Whataburger value meals for lunch and dinner unless
management orders them to pack sandwiches and drinks
in a cooler before taking off.

Still, these things have a way of working out. And
although Doocy will be kidded mercilessly at training
camp, he'll at least have an out-of-body experience
that could be a promotional plus as well.

It's completely safe to say, though, that WFAA8
sports anchor Dale Hansen wouldn't be caught dead
driving all the way to Oxnard. And if station
management tried to mandate such a trip, his response
would go something like "You &*%#@* cheap
bastards can kiss my *^#@!% ass all the way into next
week if you think I'm gonna take a **%#*@!% road trip
all the way to the &*%^#@ Cowboys training camp.
Have I made myself *^$@& clear?

And then he'd really let 'em have it.

Meanwhile, we wish safe travels for Doocy and his
Fox4 photographer. "Break a leg," as they say for
good luck in show biz. Or in this case, "Blow a
tire."

Send ol' Uncle Barky a postcard, too, if you would.
But don't try to pad that particular item on any
expense account you might have. 'Cause that
definitely would be a fireable offense.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
The Rangers' bats again were mostly silent in
Tuesday's 2-1 home loss to the Red Sox. Still, they
out-scored almost everyone in the D-FW Nielsen
ratings.

The 9 to 10 p.m. portion of the game ran into strong
opposition from Fox4's local newscast, though. They
tied for first during that hour with 284,512 viewers
apiece while the Rangers prevailed by a small margin
with advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds.

Fox4's news featured a live media conference by
Dallas police chief David Brown in connection with
the fatal police shooting of a 31-year-old South
Dallas man with a long arrest record. An angry crowd
earlier had gathered at the scene, prompting Fox4,
NBC5 and WFAA8 to preempt their 6:30 p.m.
entertainment rag mags for continuous live coverage
while CBS11 went to the early stages of Wheel of
Fortune before bailing out and resuming its live
news reports.

The full Rangers game, which stretched until 10:30
p.m., averaged 270,964 total viewers, making it
Tuesday's second most-watched TV attraction behind
Fox4's one-hour 9 p.m. news.

NBC's 7 to 9 p.m. edition of America's Got
Talent also scored well with 250,642 viewers to
rank as the day's No. 3 ratings draw. The Peacock's
Love in the Wild then plunged to 81,289
viewers.

In the four-way local news derby results, WFAA8
ranked first at 10 p.m. in total viewers while Fox4
won among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser
target audience for news programming.

WFAA8 nipped Fox4 by a sub-smidgen in total viewers
at 6 a.m., with the two stations tying for first in
the 25-to-54 demographic.

The 5 and 6 p.m. crowns also were split. At the later
hour, NBC5 had the most total viewers while Fox4 was
tops with 25-to-54-year-olds. The 5 p.m. wins went to
Fox4 in total viewers and WFAA8 in the 25-to-54
measurement.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
If they build it, will the baby boomers come?

Dallas-based KTXD-TV, a ME-TV venue for "classic"
reruns, hopes that a retro daily local newscast will
be a perfect fit. And The Texas Daily, due
sometime in September, has most of its older familiar
faces in place as the premiere date nears. Among
them: Tracy Rowlett, Troy Dungan, Scott Murray, John
Criswell, Midge Hill and Suzie Humphreys. They're
among the dozen contributors who have committed to
show up at least once a week for a Monday-Friday 8
a.m. newscast titled The Texas Daily.

"We're trying to aim an hour's worth of news and
comments at the older demographic, the baby boomers,"
said Phil Hurley, executive vice president and COO of
London Broadcasting, Inc., owner of KTXD. "It's the
forgotten demo, but our research tells us there's a
real appetite for it. It's a concept that I've been
kicking around for probably 10 years . . . I'm half
broadcaster and half entrepreneur. This is something
we have a passion to do."

D magazine's FrontBurner blog initially posted
what it termed a news release on KTXD's plans. But
Hurley said it wasn't intended for publication,
terming it "just a synopsis" given to a Texas
Daily contributor who also works for D.

KTXD plans to wait until late August to officially
announce the specifics of The Texas Daily and
its full list of contributors. "We've still got
contracts to sign. We're still designing the show,"
Hurley said.

Still, he confirmed that former WFAA8 anchor Jeff
Brady has agreed to "kind of drive the car" while
rotating "pundits" such as Rowlett, Criswell, Dungan
(who won't be doing weather) and Murray (who won't be
doing sports) hash over the local, national and
international news of the day.

"We're not going to do the cop shop news, which is so
prevalent today," Hurley said in a telephone
interview. And the sports/weather segments will be
very basic, lasting from 30 to 60 seconds each. Much
of the news footage will come from CNN, of which KXTD
is an affiliate. But Hurley said the station also
will "have one or two shooting crews here so that we
can get some content locally."

Texas Daily will be presented in
high-definition, he said. A separate locally produced
lifestyles program also is in the planning stages.

Eleven of the 12 contributors named in the Texas
Daily synopsis worked at one point or another for
WFAA8, with former NBC5 sports anchor Murray the lone
exception so far. Besides the aforementioned, the
other contributors are Gary Cogill, Jolene DeVito,
Rebecca Rodriguez, Robert Riggs, Phyllis Watson and
John Sparks.

Hurley said there are contractual offers out to five
other potential contributors. All of them would be
earning small fractions of their previous salaries,
but it's not exactly heavy lifting.

"We're not requiring them to work every day. A lot of
these folks are retired," Hurley said. "They'll be in
and out of here in a couple of hours. And you know
what's another big point? No night work."

Rowlett, WFAA8's mainstay news anchor for a
quarter-century before he jumped to CBS11 in 1999,
said he initially had reservations about joining
KTXD. But he decided to sign on after Dungan (WFAA8's
longtime main weathercaster until his 2007
retirement) likewise agreed to be a part of Texas
Daily.

"Yes, Troy and I will be together again for a program
a week, possibly two," Rowlett said in an email
response. "We both thought that would be something
worth trying. I like the folks at London."

Dungan, in a separate response, said he had a "few
small issues" with the contract sent by KTXD, but "it
is likely I will get together with them. I'm not sure
how to describe what I'll be doing. It will be more
of a co-hosting sort of a news talk hour as I
understand things. Could we see Tracy and Troy --
together again? Heck, I would watch that."

DeVito, who anchored and reported for both WFAA8 and
the companion Texas Cable News channel, said she's
still primarily a broadcast talent coach who works
with sportscasters and pro athletes.

"I didn't think there would be any project that would
interest me and fit in my life," said DeVito, who
also has two pre-teen children. "I was wrong on both
counts. The Texas Daily is a unique
opportunity to reunite with old friends and debate
the news of the day. Heck, if you told me, 'Hey, Gary
Cogill and Tracy Rowlett are down at Starbucks right
now, chewing the fat, and they want you to come' --
I'd be there in a second. In this case, we'll just
have TV cameras there, too , , , I'm looking forward
to bringing my 40-something suburban mother of two
perspective to the conversation."

Hurley & Lauren Jones strike 2007 poses for
Fox's Anchorwoman.

Besides KTXD, Hurley and London
Broadcasting president Jerry London preside over four
other Texas TV stations in Tyler-Longview,
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Corpus Christi and
Waco-Temple-Bryan.

The former Southwestern Bell Telephone executive was
running KYTX-TV in Tyler when he agreed to hire
former wrestling villainess Lauren Jones for the
purposes of the 2007 summertime Fox "comedy/reality"
series Anchorwoman. It was canceled
after back-to-back opening night episodes bombed
in the national Nielsens. KYTX also accommodated
Stormy the Weather Dog at the time. The adopted
mutt remains with the station but no longer
appears on newscasts.

Hurley agrees that Texas Daily is a polar
opposite of Anchorwoman, but has no apologies.
It helped put the small station in a better ratings
position, he said, with KYTX (still owned by London
Broadcasting) now No. 2 instead of 4 in the newscast
ratings.

"It worked for me," he said. "And to this day, I
always get a big laugh out of all the uproar. Now I
look at all the different folks who've done different
things who now proclaim themselves anchors. I think
it's hilarious."

London Broadcasting bought KTXD, formerly religious
station KTAQ, after it went into bankruptcy. The
changeover was finalized in January, with station
headquarters relocated to offices at Arapaho and the
Dallas North Tollway. KTXD took over space formerly
occupied by Frost Bank, "and we turned the lobby into
a studio," Hurley said.

"We're trying to develop a news product that mirrors
which mirrors the audience for ME-TV," Hurley said.
And with D-FW's KFWD-TV soon switching from similar entertainment
repeats to Spanish language Mundo Fox, "more
advertising dollars and viewers will be coming in
our direction," he said.

Almost all broadcast and cable networks bow to
Madison Avenue's dictum that 18-to-49-year-olds
viewers reign supreme in terms of maximizing
advertising revenues. But Hurley insists that
commercial sales for KTXD have been solid in the
early going, with ample room for growth among those
advertisers who still tailor their products to
viewers north of 50 years old.

In that respect, Texas Daily will share common
ground with the three network evening newscasts, all
of which subsist on a steady diet of commercials for
pain remedies, senior-aimed fountains of youth and
products meant to stop leakage.

"We're not taking a poke at anybody," Hurley said of
the established local newscasts on broadcast rivals
Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8, CBS11 and CW33. "We're just doing
something with a different style and content, and
with some proven players."

FSS also gave viewers and tweeters more to chew on
when analyst Tom Grieve announced the on-air end of
his "Cookie Talk" segments. They'll now be exiled to
the FSS website, meaning that Flora Flour of Flower
Mound might want to reconsider sending her chocolate
pecan, double-frosted sugar cookies up to the booth
if they're not even going to drop her name on teevee
anymore.

Grieve said that the volume of sweets has gotten a
bit out of hand, prompting the switch. That's no
doubt not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth. But whatever. Jim "Knoxie" Knox's
oft-aggravating in-game fan segments for now are
still part of FSS telecasts.

The game itself, which stretched to 10:12 p.m.,
averaged 209,998 D-FW viewers on FSS and another
94,837 on ESPN. That's a grand total of 304,835
viewers for Texas' 9-1 victory. And that again easily
was enough to top all of Monday's TV attractions.

Fox4's 6 p.m. U.S. Senate debate between Republicans
David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz had just 67,741 viewers
to rank fourth in that hour opposite a mix of local
newscasts and syndicated programming on NBC5, WFAA8
and CBS11. The latter station's Wheel of
Fortune almost tripled the debate crowd with
196,449 viewers.

Rangers-Red Sox also ruled the roost among
advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. Hell's
Kitchen ran second overall in prime-time in this
key demographic.

ABC's two-hour season premiere of Bachelor Pad
had a lackluster 81,289 total viewers before the
network's Big Brother knockoff, Glass
House, registered as prime-time's least-watched
attraction among the Big Four broadcast networks with
33,871 viewers.

Fox4 had a big day in the four-way local news derby
results, sweeping the 10 p.m., 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.
competitions in both total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

But Dewhurst-Cruz kept the station from potentially
achieving a very rare double grand slam. Instead the
downsized three-way 6 p.m. local news wars went to
WFAA8 in total viewers and NBC5 in the 25-to-54
demographic.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
Seen on three different venues over the weekend, the
Texas Rangers again swung from the fences in the D-FW
Nielsens while their offense ran hot and cold.

Each of the three road games against the Angels was
the most-watched TV attraction of the day, led by
Saturday afternoon/evening's 9-2 win on Fox. It
averaged a robust 318,383 viewers while also
dominating among advertiser-prized
18-to-49-year-olds.

Sunday night's game on ESPN, a 7-4 Rangers loss, drew
264,190 viewers while Friday night's 6-1 Angels win
on TXA21 had a crowd of 257,416. Both games likewise
dominated in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Fox Sports Southwest, which reclaims the Rangers
Monday night in their return home against Boston,
also has prospered all season with first-place Texas.
Even the highly dramatic final minutes of the British
Open Sunday afternoon amounted to a missed short
putt. Ernie Els' improbable win over a cratering Adam
Scott peaked at 155,804 viewers from 12:15 to 12:30
p.m. on ESPN. The overall average audience was just
half that size.

Sunday night's annual Teen Choice Awards on
Fox averaged 121,934 total viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m.
slot. ABC's competing Bachelorette finale won
that time period with 189,675 viewers while also
prevailing with 18-to-49-year-olds among non-Ranger
attractions.

In Friday's local news derby results, CBS11 swept the
10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming. Fox4 did likewise at 6
a.m.

WFAA8 notched both wins at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m.
first in total viewers. The ABC affiliate tied with
Fox4 for the 25-to-54 lead at 6 p.m.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
My name will always come up short of him -- in every
way.

Dallas-Fort Worth television legend Eddie Barker,
first to report the death of President John F.
Kennedy and present at the creation of KRLD-TV
(Channel 4), died Monday morning at the age of 84.

He never really got out of the broadcasting business,
hosting a daily talk show on KPLT-AM (1490) in Paris,
TX until late in his life. And as news director at
Channel 4 (now KDFW/Fox4), he also hired Judy Jordan,
who became the "First Lady" of D-FW television news
after Barker made her an anchor.

Most accounts initially credited Dan Rather, as did
the reporter himself, for being the first to report
on television that Kennedy had died during that
horrific Nov. 22, 1963 day in Dallas. But transcripts
and tapes later showed that Barker's KRLD report from
the Dallas Trade Mart came first at 1:11 p.m. that
day. Walter Cronkite then haltingly broke the news to
the nation five minutes later while both men stressed
that it had yet to be officially confirmed. The
authorized announcement to the nation came at 1:33
p.m. Barker had received the news from a trusted
doctor at Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy had been
taken.

"I don't think it's a question of being proud of
being first, or regretting that I had such news,"
Barker told me in an interview tied to the 40th
anniversary of the assassination. "I always thought
of it as, 'Here's a story. I'm a reporter and we're
trying to get news of what happened.' It was a
helluva thing to have to tell people, and you had to
have some dignity in how you said it. It's kind of a
strange thing to be remembered for."

The late Cronkite, a longtime friend of Barker's,
wrote the Foreword to his 2006 book, Eddie
Barker's Notebook: Stories That Made the News (and
some better ones that didn't!). Written in tandem
with John Mark Dempsey, it came 36 years after Barker
was let go as Channel 4 news director in 1972. He was
just 45 years old, but new management decided that a
change was needed.

Cronkite wrote that Barker "has fire in the belly --
a five-alarmer burning in his gut. When a good story
breaks, Eddie becomes inspired. He leaves no stone
unturned until he or members of his staff have mined
the territory for every nugget of information. He
remains doggedly at the story until his highly
developed news sense tells him there is nothing left
uncovered."

Jordan, among several old contemporaries interviewed
by Dempsey for the book, said that "if Walter
Cronkite was the most trusted man in America, Eddie
Barker was the most trusted man in Dallas."

In comments Monday to unclebarky.com, Jordan said
"there will always be a special place in my heart for
my mentor and benefactor. Mr. Barker brought his
instincts for truth-seeking to every undertaking, and
taught me and many others invaluable professional and
life lessons."

Jordan noted that a modeling job at Neiman-Marcus
became available at around the same time the "girl
Friday/gofer" job was offered by the KRLD TV and
radio stations. But Barker gradually moved her from
behind an off-camera desk to on-camera work as a
reporter and then as D-FW's first woman news anchor.

"Working around men who wore makeup and could type
faster than any girl was an irresistible novelty,"
Jordan said Monday. "I am so glad I chose as I did,
and that Mr. Barker then chose me. I hope the Barker
family can find comfort in the many wonderful stories
and memories he left behind."

In his book, Barker wrote: "Looking back, I guess I
was guilty of doing what I'm always cussing everyone
else out for doing, putting an attractive face on TV.
But Judy got better and better as a reporter and as
an anchor. People really liked her. And you
can't overestimate the importance of that in
television."

Barker was born on August 18, 1927 as the only child
of Edmund Asa Barker Sr. and the former Nannie Mae
Meek. His birthplace is the Harlandale section of San
Antonio, 102 Kirkwood Street, according to his book.
He was delivered at home during the heart of the
Great Depression.

Barker's first broadcasting job was as an announcer
at San Antonio's KMAC radio. He was still in high
school at the time, and had to quit his job at the
drugstore. In November of 1949 he joined KRLD on the
eve of its sign-on -- Dec. 3, 1949. He ended up
anchoring the fledgling station's evening newscasts
while also hosting a game show called Ring the
Bell for Charity. "A truly terrible show," Barker
wrote in his book.

He also met and interviewed a number of Hollywood
stars and other notables passing through Dallas.
Humphrey Bogart, Jayne Mansfield, Steve Allen, Audie
Murphy and Rudy Vallee all made favorable impressions
on him. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz did not.

"I have to say I didn't like them at all," he said of
the couple's first visit to Channel 4 in the 1950s.
"Very difficult to interview. They were terribly
demanding about this or that camera angle. They
really played the 'stars.' I thought she was pretty
funny on TV up until then, but
that killed it for me."

Eddie Barker and Dan Rather during a very
sobering November, 1963.

His relationship with Rather blew hot
and cold over the years after they teamed to cover
the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath. KRLD was
a CBS affiliate station, meaning that Rather and his
crew used its studios to file their reports. They
clashed in no uncertain terms after Rather told
Barker he had heard that some elementary school
students in University Park had cheered the
president's death as they were let out of class.

Barker said in his book that he checked the story out
and told Rather that the kids were merely cheering
the fact that they had gotten out of school early.
But in Barker's account, Rather went with the "city
of hate" angle anyway, prompting the infuriated news
director to boot Rather and 30-odd CBS cameramen,
editors and producers out of KRLD studios.

Channel 4 then did its own story on the matter before
"fences got mended" and Rather was invited back the
next day.

Barker ended up inducting Rather into the Texas Radio
Hall of Fame in 2003.

"I've always said there are two Dan Rathers," he
wrote in his book. "One you are proud to call your
friend, and the other who achieves his goals at any
cost. And I have known them both . . . I've got to
say I still really like him, warts and all."

Post-Channel 4, Barker remained closely involved with
the Radio-Television News Director's Association,
managing the exhibits for the organization's annual
conventions. He also was RTNDA president in 1967.

In a 1995 interview, Barker commented on the
technological advances of TV news in the years after
the Kennedy assassination, during which there were no
live cameras in place along the president's parade
route.

"We were in no way positioned to cover an event as
these people are today," he said. "I sit and look and
just kind of marvel at the flexibility they have."

Still, he wondered whether the instant news to which
viewers are now accustomed is always a better way to
go.

"There are time when I've felt that maybe we had a
little better control over what was said. Because in
our day, I think the message was more important to
some of us than the medium."

But mistakes were made back then, too, including
early erroneous reports that vice president Lyndon
Johnson had suffered a heart attack while riding in
the fateful presidential motorcade. No era is
perfect, as Barker would readily admit. But he was
there at the creation -- and lived for a good long
time to re-tell the tales.

Eddie Barker is survived by his wife, Jane Barker,
and five children, including my former Dallas
Morning News colleague, Leslie Barker Garcia.
Funeral services are pending.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
A CBS mix of repeats and Big Big Brother 14
controlled Thursday's prime-time numbers in total
viewers and likewise almost ran the table with
advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.

The Big Bang Theory set the pace with 243,868
D-FW viewers while also ranking as the night's high
scorer in the 18-to-49 realm -- 96,069. The network's
only slip-up was Person of Interest, which ran
a close third at 9 p.m. among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Fox4's local newscast and ABC's Rookie Blue
tied for first.

In the four-way local news derby faceoffs, WFAA8 ran
first at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added 5 and 6
p.m. wins with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 had the most
total viewers at those two hours.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
CBS11 continued its early morning news makeover
Thursday by naming Whitney Drolen as the new traffic
"anchor" while shifting incumbent Teresa Frosini to
the D-FW station's reporting staff.

The swap begins the week of August 6th, CBS11
director of communications Lori Conrad says.

Drolen's hire apparently rules out any possibility of
soon-to-be-former NBC5 "Gridlock Buster" Tammy
Bombeck relocating to CBS11 in that capacity.
Dombeck's last day at NBC5, after they reached a
contract renewal stalemate, will be Friday of next
week. A six-month "non-compete" clause will then
prohibit the veteran traffic stopper from being
on-air in the D-FW market until February at the
earliest.

Drolen joins CBS11 from CBS-owned stations KCBS and
KCAL in Los Angeles, where she's lately been doing
traffic updates. She began her TV career at little
WVVA-TV in Bluefield, W. VA., moved to Pittsburgh's
WTAE-TV and then relocated to Southern California in
2006. Her employers since then also have included E!
Entertainment Television, Fox Movie Channel and
Comcast.

"I love the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so for me, this
is a dream come true," Drolen says in a CBS11
publicity release. "I'm thrilled to have this
opportunity to work at CBS11 and to become a Texan."

CBS11/TXA21 president and general manager Gary
Schneider praised Drolen as "intelligent, energetic
and extremely excited to come to North Texas."

Frosini, CBS11's traffic maestro since May 2006, will
become a reporter specializing in lighter news. The
station says her beats will include entertainment
news, "special news reports" and her ongoing "Texans
With Character" profiles.

"I am excited to have the opportunity to move into
the genre where my passion lies," she says, also
noting her love for the early morning shift she'll be
leaving.

CBS11, long a distant number four in the early
morning ratings race, introduced a new anchor team of
former NBC5 early riser Brendan Higgins and
Adrienne Bankert on June 25th. With Drolen's
hiring, only meteorologist Garry Seith remains in
place.

Drolen's official resume reel, which she posted on
youtube, is eclectic to say the least. And also
typical of these times in local TV news. Here it is:

Talent pulled in 169,353 D-FW viewers while
BB had the most advertiser-prized
18-to-49-year-olds -- 86,462.

Neither show had to face the potent first-place Texas
Rangers, who lost a comparatively little-seen
afternoon game to the Oakland A's on a walk-off home
run. Rangers-A's averaged 115,160 total viewers on
Fox Sports Southwest, with 41,630 in the 18-to-49
domain.

In local news derby results, WFAA8 topped the 10 p.m.
field in total viewers while tying Fox4 for first
place among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser
target audience for news programming.

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions and
tied WFAA8 for No. 1 at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54
demographic. WFAA8 took the 6 p.m. gold in total
viewers.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
Anchor Debbie Denmon, who joined WFAA8 in October,
2000, announced on her Facebook page Wednesday that
she's leaving the Dallas-based station after a
turbulent tenure marked by a discrimination suit that
she lost last year.

She said the station did not renew her contract. "So
effective immediately, today is my last day with the
station," Denmon said. "God closes one door and will
surely open another!"

The station quickly removed her bio Wednesday from
its website, wfaa.com. Vice president of program
development Dave Muscari later said via email: "As
you know we are fiercely protective of our employees'
privacy. Thus we do not comment on personnel issues."

Reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon, Denmon
said, "I actually feel a sense of relief, but I
promised my attorney that I would a wait a bit to
give a full interview. I'm fine. They basically
called me in this morning and said they were not
going to renew my contract."

Denmon is represented by Dallas attorney Michael
Coles, who currently is out of town, she said.

Recently hired WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo
called her in late Wednesday morning to deliver the
news that her contract would not be renewed when it
expires in October, Denmon said. The station is
paying her in absentia for the roughly 90 days
remaining on the contract, she said.

Denmon also confirmed that "it's standard in Belo
contracts to have a non-compete" in signed contracts.
"And yes, I do have one."

Depending on the station, such clauses generally
prohibit a former employee from being on the air in
the same TV market for six months after they depart.
WFAA8 is owned by Dallas-based Belo Corp., whose
headquarters are across the street in downtown Dallas
from WFAA8 studios and The Dallas Morning
News, also a Belo property.

As reported previously on
unclebarky.com, Denmon charged the ABC
affiliate with discrimination against her in
regards to promotion opportunities. An arbitrator
ruled against her in November of last year.
Denmon, who earlier had co-anchored WFAA8's
Daybreak program, had applied to be a
co-anchor on the station's 5 p.m. weekday
newscasts. Shelly Slater instead got the position.

Reacting to the arbitrator's ruling at the time,
WFAA8 president and general manager Mike Devlin said
in a statement the station is "grateful that the
arbitrator's decision was based on the clear facts of
the case, and on the merits of the legal claims."

"We made legitimate business decisions based on
performance," Devlin continued. "And at the end of
the day, the arbitrator confirmed that there was
nothing wrong with our doing so. We have always stood
by our decision, and we are glad we fought this to
the end and obtained complete vindication of any
wrongdoing,"

Roughly 20 WFAA8 employees, including longtime WFAA8
sports anchor Dale Hansen, were called in to testify
before the arbitrator eventually ruled against
Denmon. A clause in WFAA8 contracts mandates that any
claims of discrimination be resolved in binding
arbitration rather than in a courtroom.

Denmon had contended that her plus-sized figure in
part had kept her from being promoted ahead of other
WFAA8 anchors with less tenure at the station.

She most recently had co-anchored WFAA8's evening and
late night weekend newscasts. She began doing so in
February 2010.

Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, the
Rangers settled for a solid second place tie with
Talent. Fox's Hell's Kitchen topped the
field in this key demographic with 92,867 viewers in
the 7 p.m. hour.

WFAA8's one-hour Belo Debate between
Republican U.S. Senate candidates David Dewhurst and
Ted Cruz had 81,289 total viewers in the 7 p.m. slot,
with just 9,607 of them 18-to-49-year-olds. It
respectively ranked fourth and fifth in those
measurements opposite broadcast network programming
on CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW.

That doesn't detract, however, from what came off as
a model way to present a debate. Dewhurst and Cruz
sat within "Pass the Peas" distance of one another
while otherwise pulling out their knives. Moderator
Brad Watson, host of WFAA8's Sunday morning Inside
Politics program, savvily kept the combatants on
topic, knowing when to interject and when to let them
have at it. Dallas Morning News political
reporter Gromer Jeffers, a regular on Inside
Politics, served as Watson's very capable Robin.
Networks and local stations around the country could
learn from this.

Tuesday night also yielded a guest appearance by
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on ABC's following
8 p.m. half-hour of Trust Us With Your Life,
an improv variation on the network's previous
Whose Line Is It Anyway?. The Belo
Debate was a comparative blockbuster, with just
20,322 total viewers watching Cuban laugh it up while
being twitted. That ranked it fifth in a five-horse
broadcast network field, with the same ranking among
18-to-49-year-olds.

In Tuesday's local news derby proceedings, WFAA8
called the tune at 10 p.m. in total viewers but Fox4
and NBC5 shared first place with 25-to-54-year-olds,
the main advertiser target audience for news
programming.

Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. and
added a 6 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 demographic. WFAA8
had the most total viewers at that time.

Of note at 6 a.m. was WFAA8's second straight weekday
in the ratings doldrums. So much so that the largely
dormant CBS11's waker upper rose up to claim third
place from 6 to 7 a.m. (as well as from 5 to 6 a.m.)
in the key 25-to-54 demographic. That hasn't happened
in a good long while, giving CBS11's new anchor team
of Brendan Higgins and Adrienne Bankert at least a
ray of hope for one day at least.

It's both ironic and sad that former NBC5 anchor Jane
McGarry has regained her First Amendment rights only
afterending a 30-year tenure with a
media company.

Well, to a point. Reached by telephone Tuesday
morning, McGarry continued to pleasantly but firmly
state that "for the time being" her widely circulated
exit statements on both NBC5's website and her
Facebook page will have to speak for themselves. She
also declined to discuss any future possibilities
beyond life at the station she joined in 1982 before
admittedly driving while intoxicated on an early
morning in early May.

Meanwhile, McGarry is newly enabled to go a little
nuts on her Facebook and Twitter pages after being
completely silenced for more than two months. The
old Jane had been a frequent poster on those two
sites. The post-NBC5 Jane is pedal to the metal.

"How you like my hot dog? she asked Tuesday during a
fusillade of tweets. "Try one Friday at the first Go
Texan Cowtown Chowdown with Food Trucks. Mmmm:)"

A companion post on her now very busy Facebook page
notes that the "Tarzan Me Jane" dog in her honor
comes with "grilled onions, chili, cheddar cheese,
chopped green onion, tomato, jalapeno & sour
cream. 'We do not Cheetah on these toppings."

McGarry earlier had asked for her Facebook friends'
input, noting that "a foot (sic) truck wants to name
a hot dog after me." She said the choices were the
aforementioned "Tarzan Me Jane" plus "Just Jane"
(basic mustard, ketchup, relish) and "Texas Jane"
(add jalapenos).

As of this writing she has 603 comments. Holy
freakin' foot long!

McGarry also asked for tips on the "3 most important
things a kid needs for his college dorm room." She
received 275 comments. And her tout and picture of a
plumbago plant that "LOVES the Texas heat" has
received 117 comments to date.

The official nbcdfw.com website can only dream
about such traffic. Even its trumpeted "Dez Bryant
Accused of Assaulting His Mother" story, complete
with mug shot, has gotten just eight comments as
of this writing.

The l-o-o-o-o-ve also continues to pour in as McGarry
lunches with pals, posts pictures and gets on with
her life. One such Facebook valentine comes from
Prince Morkan Vladeslas Dcc, who
included a picture of the "main fountain of
Savannah" with the notation "We were there in
April. As is (sic) flows and cleanses, let a new
start, do the same for you."

Another Facebook friend asked the basic Topic A
question of McGarry: "Are you going back to KXAS? If
not, where are you going?"

"I don't know the answer to where right now, but I'll
keep you posted," she replied. "Thanks for asking."

Well, it won't be back to KXAS, a k a NBC5. That
chapter is closed, liberating McGarry in the process.
Some of this love and outright adulation will die
down in time. But at this very moment, McGarry
remains a big star within her Facebook and Twitter
communities.

Unshackled in large part, she's tripping the light
fandango while her former NBC5 colleagues remain wary
of saying anything that might get them in trouble
with both local and corporate management.

Anchors and reporters at both NBC5 and rival D-FW
television stations increasingly feel compelled to
operate under the same constraints. Not all of them,
but their numbers are increasing. Big Brother is
watching, and media companies are among the worst
offenders. Put your head down, do your job and keep
your mouth shut when it comes to "personnel matters."
And in today's media world, personnel matters cover a
wide spectrum.

One more thing. McGarry fully owned up -- on her
Facebook page-- to driving while intoxicated. She
vowed it would never happen again. It was her first
criminal offense of any kind. Her station then almost
simultaneously "supported" the 56-year-old anchor's
"decision" to "resign."

Do you think for a minute that the New York Knicks
will part ways with newly acquired guard Jason Kidd
after he smashed his car into a telephone pole and
was arrested on a DWI charge?

Do you really think the Dallas Cowboys will waive
Bryant off the team after his latest incident?

Athletes time and again are given chances to redeem
themselves. So are movie stars, politicians, etc.,
etc. I'm not saying that McGarry is Joan of Arc. Nor
was she a trailblazing anchor. She assumed the
position, capably did her job for 30 years at NBC5,
got older, got downsized to lower profile newscasts
and in the end got dismissed.

It's already been surmised in these spaces that
McGarry's transgression gave NBC5 management a
convenient reason to part ways with an aging, still
comparatively high-salaried anchor who perhaps would
have been let go in a year or two anyway. Readers of
course are free to think otherwise.

Meanwhile, McGarry appears to have re-calibrated
herself and moved on. Cripes, even her Facebook
picture and post on lunch at Campisi's got 95
comments.

By the way, not one of these Facebook comments -- on
any of the aforementioned subjects -- is from a
current on-camera NBC5 employee. Um, you think that's
coincidental?

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
Veteran meteorologist Rick Mitchell, the lead
weathercaster at Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV since 1994,
has been tabbed by Fort Worth-based NBC5 as its new
early morning forecaster.

The 1987 University of Nebraska grad, with a bachelor
of science degree in meteorology, will join the
station on Aug. 22nd, but his official first day on
the air hasn't yet been announced. Mitchell
previously worked at WOI-TV in Des Moines. KOCO is an
ABC affiliate.

"It's a surprisingly great hire," said a source
familiar with Mitchell's work. "Rick is a really nice
guy and a great team player. Plus, he knows his
weather."

NBC5's Monday afternoon announcement of Mitchell's
hiring had no information on the status of incumbent
Samantha Davies, who had been
filling in for Lopez on the station's early
morning shift. But vice president of programming
Brian Hocker said in a subsequent email reply that
Davies "will remain on the AMs and we have to
figure out duties/shifts because of the 11 a.m.
newscast and how that plays into it."

Before subbing for Lopez, Davies had been working the
4:30 to 5 a.m. "First Weather" segment while also
filling in at other times throughout the day and
night. She additionally does some segments on
upcoming area events such as last week's "Taste of
Dallas" at Fair Park.

The 3-2 win at Seattle averaged 298,060 D-FW viewers,
with 118,486 of them in the advertiser-coveted
18-to-49 age range. No other Friday through Sunday
program came close to matching that.

The Rangers' 7-0 loss on Fox Sports Southwest
Saturday night emerged as that day's most-watched
program with 182,901 total viewers while also leading
the way with 18-to-49-year-olds.

But Sunday afternoon's 4-0 Texas win fell a bit short
in both ratings measurements. Its 189,675 total
viewers ranked second to ABC's prime-time episode of
Secret Millionaire (196,449 viewers). And
AMC's Season 5 premiere of Breaking Bad, along
with CBS' Big Brother, tied for the lead in
18-to-49-year-olds (89,664) while the Rangers had
83,260.

We've been charting the Rangers' robust ratings all
season. And a publicity release from FSS says that
the games leading up to the All-Star game break were
drawing 83 percent more viewers than last season's
average. FSS says that's the biggest year-to-year
growth in Major League Baseball.

The Rangers also are taking substantial chunks of
audience away from the Big Four broadcast networks'
summer landfills. It'll be interesting to see how
they fare against NBC's Summer Olympics telecasts,
which begin on Friday, July 27th with the opening
ceremonies from London. It sets up an almost
two-and-a-half week period in which live/taped
sports, either the Olympics or the Rangers, may well
finish one-two on each night they're in competition
with each other. Sorry about that, Bachelor
Pad.

In Friday's local news derby results, CBS11 ended a
lengthy summertime drought by tying for first in
total viewers at 10 p.m. with WFAA8. It was the
station's first win since June 28th in the four major
four-way competitions.

Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the top spot at 10 p.m. among
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming. The Peacock and Fox4
split the 6 a.m. golds, with NBC5 running first with
25-to-54-year-olds while Fox4 had the most total
viewers.

Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. win
in the 25-to-54 demographic. CBS11 made it a cake and
ice cream day with a 6 p.m. victory in total viewers.

A dark cloud continued to hover around CBS11's early
morning news, however. CW33's Eye Opener again
ran fourth among 25-to-54-year-olds in both the 5 and
6 a.m. hours, pushing CBS11 into fifth place. The 7
a.m. repeat hour of Eye Opener then spanked
the CBS network's morning show by a wider margin in
this key demographic.

TNT's Dallas has showcased more
charter cast members in its ongoing first season than
the original did in its last season.

Check out this tease and opening credits from the
1990-91 swan song, when holdovers Larry Hagman,
Patrick Duffy and Ken Kercheval shared "In
Alphabetical Order" cast billing with the likes of
Kimberly Foster, Sasha Mitchell, Cathy Podewell,
Barbara Stock and Sheree J. Wilson, who went on to
co-star in Walker, Texas Ranger.

Besides Hagman, Duffy and Kecheval, the revived
Dallas has included first-year regulars Linda
Gray, Charlene Tilton and Steve Kanaly during its
first six episodes. Four more hours remain, with
Season 2 already green-lighted with a 15-episode
order.
Ed Bark@unclebarkycom

It comfortably won the 8 p.m. slot in both total D-FW
viewers (128,708) and advertiser-prized
18-to-49-year-olds (73,669).

For CBS, that's an uncommonly high percentage of
viewers in the TV universe's key audience
demographic. In contrast, the network's 9 p.m. repeat
of Person of Interest had a bigger overall
audience (142,256), but only 40,645 of those viewers
were in the 18-to-49 age range.

CBS' pair of Big Bang Theory reruns won the 7
p.m. hour in both ratings measurements while NBC's
Rock Center with Brian Williams had the most
18-to-49-year-olds at 9 p.m.

In Thursday's local news derby results, WFAA8 ran
first at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

NBC5 had paper thin wins at 6 a.m. in both major food
groups. The 5 and 6 p.m. spoils were split between
WFAA8, which topped the total viewer Nielsens, and
Fox4, the winner at both hours among
25-to-54-year-olds.

CBS11's severe hot weather drought continued. The
station hasn't finished first in any of the four
major four-way newscast competitions since a 10 p.m.
win in total viewers on Thursday, June 28th.

Talent drew 203,223 D-FW viewers to 176,127
for the Ewings. And among advertiser-prized
18-to-49-year-olds, the score was 102,474 to 67,248,
again in favor of Talent.

No worries for the local production community,
though, Dallas already has been picked up for
a Season 2. And Talent and Dallas
ranked one-two in total viewers among all of
Wednesday's prime-time attractions. Fox4's 9 p.m.
local newscast nipped Dallas for the No. 2
spot overall in the key 18-to-49 demographic.

In local news derby results, WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in
total viewers but Fox4 prevailed with
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

NBC5 ran the table at 6 a.m. while WFAA8 swept the 6
p.m. competitions. The 5 p.m. golds went to WFAA8 in
total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.

CBS11's four principal newscasts again went without a
win in what's starting to look like a long parched
summer for the station. But the 5 to 7 a.m. portion
of its early morning news did manage to edge CW33's
Eye Opener for fourth place among
25-to-54-year-olds.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
The National League ran up the score early while
baseball's annual All-Star game did likewise against
all competing programming Tuesday night.

Running from 7:18 to 10:17 p.m. on Fox, the NL's 8-0
blowout of the AL averaged 426,768 total viewers,
with 208,150 of them in the advertiser-prized
18-to-49-year-old range.

A closer game likely would have meant an audience
approaching a half-million, though. The final full
15-minute increment of the game, from 10 to 10:15
p.m., fell to 304,835 total viewers, with 131,294 in
the 18-to-49 demographic. The audience steadily
declined from 9 p.m. until the final out.

In chronological order, we now go to the weekday
local news derby results.

Monday, July 2 -- NBC5 swept the 10 p.m.
competitions, winning in total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

The Peacock and Fox tied for first at 6 a.m. in total
viewers while WFAA8 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. win
with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 won at 6 p.m. in total
viewers.

Tuesday, July 3 -- WFAA8 had a big day,
sweeping the 6 a.m. and 6 and 10 p.m. races. Fox4
took both of the 5 p.m. golds.

Wednesday, July 4 -- All four stations took
holiday knees, which means the newscast numbers
essentially don't count. But WFAA8 had the biggest
prime-time audience with a locally produced 9 p.m.
Fair Park fireworks special that drew 155,804
viewers. TNT aired a new episode of Dallas at
8 p.m. after a preceding "marathon" of repeats. It
recorded the smallest D-FW audience to date --
128,708 total viewers.

Thursday, July 5 -- WFAA8 ran the table at
both 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. while adding a 6 p.m. win in
total viewers. NBC5 ran first at 5 p.m. in total
viewers, with Fox4 taking the 5 and 6 p.m. golds in
the 25-to-54 demographic.

Friday, July 6 -- WFAA8 again swept the 10
p.m. proceedings while Fox4 and NBC5 tied for first
at 6 a.m. in both measurements. WFAA8 was a close
third in each of the early morning tussles and won in
total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. The 25-to-54 golds
at those hours respectively went to Fox4 and NBC5.

Monday, July 9 -- The 10 p.m. firsts were
split between WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 among
25-to-54-year-olds.

WFAA8 ran first at 6 a.m. in total viewers while NBC5
topped the 25-to-54 charts. Fox4 and WFAA8 tied for
first at 5 p.m. in total viewers but WFAA8 otherwise
swept the early evening races.

WFAA8 won at both 5 and 6 p.m. in total viewers. Fox
took the 25-to-54 gold at 5 p.m. while tying WFAA8
for the top spot at 6 p.m.

For those keeping score, this entire period came and
went without CBS11 recording a single win in the four
major local news face-offs. Even worse, the station's
remodeled early news program lost as often as not in
the 25-to-54 demographic to CW33's comedy-infused
Eye Opener.

The Tuesday, July 10th results were pretty typical,
with Eye Openerrunning fourth ahead of CBS11
in both the 5 and 6 a.m. hours.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
David Duitch is returning to the Belo mothership and
cutting ties with Dallas-based CW33 after four
oft-turbulent years as the Tribune-owned station's
news director.

The former WFAA8 news director is the new editor of
dallasnews.com, where he'll "join" current managing
editor Robert Wilonsky, according to a memorandum
announcing the hire. He's scheduled to start in late
July.

Both WFAA8 and The Dallas Morning News are run
by Belo, where synergy still runs strong despite a
split in which the newspaper is a subsidiary of A.H.
Belo Corporation while the TV station is run by Belo
Corp.

Several sources say the key to Duitch's hiring is
Dallas Morning News publisher and chief
executive officer James M. Moroney III, who formerly
worked for WFAA8 and also was president of the Belo
Television Group. Moroney and Duitch have remained
close friends.

Sources close to the situation also say that Tribune
Corp. has a prospective buyer, which might make
endangered species of the local newscasts at
Tribune-owned stations such as CW33.

Duitch became CW33's news director in July of 2008.
In that capacity he led the station on a
rollercoaster ride of hires and fires, virtually
erasing the news staff he inherited while mandating a
heavy mix of sex stories and Facebook tie-ins for the
featured 9 p.m. local newscasts. The station even had
a designated sex correspondent, Shana
Franklin, who since has departed the station.

Ratings for the 9 p.m. newscasts have continued to
decline despite multiple re-inventions during
Duitch's tenure. His replacement, at least on an
interim basis, will be assistant news director Denise
Killian, who was hired in March from NBC affiliate
KWQC in the Quad Cities.

Duitch, as does Wilonsky, has a strong personality
that could either make or break their relationship at
dallasnews.com. While at CW33, he both alienated some
staffers while winning over others. In the wake of
his decision to leave CW33, both sides made their
feelings known.

"I am happy for him, but very sad," CW33 reporter
Giselle Phelps said on her Facebook page. "I owe
David a lot in my career. He believed in my talent
and moved me from cold Buffalo to market #5 in
Dallas. He also knew I had what it took to make it as
a regular reporter and not a one-man band."

Others were less supportive.

"I have been told not to comment on the departure of
my former boss from CW33," ex-station staffer Russell
Thompson said on his Facebook page. "But I just can't
resist! What goes around comes around! You got what
you deserved! I hope the folks at the DMN know what
they are getting into!"

Duitch was WFAA8's news director from 2000 to 2005
before serving as the head of Belo Corp.'s Washington
bureau from 2005 to 2008. The official Belo
announcement of his re-hiring says that Duitch will
"lead the teams responsible for breaking news
coverage and for daily production of the Web site,
and will work closely with the owners of all our
digital platforms. One of his primary missions will
be to enhance our video offerings."

Belo says that the impending team of Duitch and
Wilonsky, who recently left The Dallas
Observer to become dallasnews.com's managing
editor, "gives us a powerful blend of energy, local
awareness and deep technical knowledge."

***Former CBS11 early morning co-anchor Lisa
Pineiro, who was dropped by the station in May, is
hoping to rebound quickly with KTTV-TV, the Fox-owned
station in Los Angeles. She's auditioning on the
station's early morning newscasts this week, and you
can take a look live if you'd like by going here on Thursday or Friday.
Remember, though, there's a two-hour time
difference. So the early AM show gets a later
start in D-FW.

***WFAA8 anchor Shelly Slater, who became a
first-time mom in the summer of 2010, is expecting
again.

Slater, in an email response, said her due date is
Jan. 4th. "Things happen in 3's around here! Cynthia
(Izaguirre), Alex (Conomos), now me."

Izaguirre, the Daybreak co-anchor, is newly
returned from maternity leave after having twins.
Conomos, the early morning traffic reporter, filled
in for Izaguirre while awaiting her own delivery of a
third child. She's due very shortly.

WFAA8's maternity merry-go-around has meant a
constant shuffling of on-air talent. Slater is due to
officially replace Gloria Campos as 6 p.m. co-anchor
in September, with Campos still co-helming 10 p.m.
newscasts with John McCaa. But Slater's pregnancy
could bring Campos back for a return visit just in
time for the February "sweeps" ratings period.

McGarry, who joined the Fort Worth-based station in
1982, earlier apologized on her Facebook page for "my
irresponsible behavior" on the early morning of
Sunday, May 6th.

According to her Facebook post, McGarry pleaded no
contest to a Class B misdemeanor charge and is
"grateful that the police did their job and no one
was hurt."

"Blood alcohol tests showed my blood alcohol level
was .11, which is over the legal limit, and therefore
I should not have been driving," McGarry said. The
legal limit in Texas is .08
percent.

McGarry said she had paid a fine of $1,200, is on
probation for 18 months and "will participate in at
least 40 hours of community service. I am deeply
sorry for making such a terrible mistake and pledge
it will never happen again."

The veteran anchor also thanked her Facebook friends
for "all your kindness. You have touched my heart."

"We support Jane's decision and truly thank her for
her many contributions to NBC5 throughout her long
and distinguished career," station president and
general manager Tom Ehlmann said in a statement. "We
wish her the very best."

McGarry's official statement on the station's
nbcdfw.com website went like this:
"I want to thank the people of North Texas for
inviting me into their homes for 30 wonderful
years. In today's world, 30 years is a long time
to stay in any one job. I leave grateful for the
wonderful career I have had at NBC5 and am looking
forward with anticipation to the next phase of my
professional life."

Veteran WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos, a survivor in her
own right, terms it "a sad day in DFW TV news to see
a long, distinguished career come to such an
unceremonious end. Jane's a consummate professional
and a formidable competitor. Her contributions to
NBC5 won't soon be forgotten. She has many friends
and fans here who no doubt will offer all the support
she will need to sustain her through this
transition."

McGarry's "decision" to resign obviously was not hers
entirely. But after being taken off the 6 and 10 p.m.
newscasts, she was deemed expendable as a middle-aged
56-year-old anchor who earlier had to take a salary
cut to remain with the station as a 5 p.m. news
co-anchor while soloing on the virtually invisible
6:30 p.m. Nonstop Nightly newscast on digital
channel 5.2.

It's fair to say that McGarry's appreciably younger 6
and 10 p.m. heir, Meredith Land, likely would have
received different treatment from station management
had she committed the same infraction without any
previous criminal record. But McGarry, who received a
stay of execution after her longtime anchor partner,
Mike Snyder, was let go, had been on the downside of
her long NBC5 career for the past several years. The
drunken driving arrest, and McGarry's admission of
guilt, made it easy for management to cut her loose.
The NBC Universal brass no doubt weighed in as well.

Interestingly, a former NBC5 nightside reporter, Jay
Gray, escaped the ax from NBC News after he was
arrested for drunk driving early on
the morning of December 12, 2011. He had been
attending a Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants
football-watching party at the home of since
convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky's
attorney. Gray and other reporters at the party
reportedly were angling for an interview with
Sandusky while the liquor flowed freely.

Gray, who worked for NBC5 until the early 2000s,
registered a .182 blood alcohol content according to
the official police report. He waived a preliminary
hearing in January and continues to report for NBC
News. NBC5 anchor Brian Curtis recently introduced a
Gray report during one of the station's local
newscasts.

McGarry and Snyder, promotionally trumpeted as "JAM"
during their heyday at NBC5, were the station's
signature anchors through most of the 1990s and
almost a decade into the new millenium. But times and
ownerships change, with meteorologist David Finfrock
now the lone throwback to the station's "Action News"
days of yore.

Snyder was dropped from the weeknight 10 p.m.
newscasts in July 2009 in favor of Curtis and McGarry
gave way to Land in February 2010. During an
interview with unclebarky.com at that time, McGarry
typically looked on the bright side as the door on
her NBC5 career began to close.

"For me this is the beginning of something new. And
I'm not B.S.'ing you in any way," she said. "I know
some people are going to say, 'Oh, she got the boot
and she's just saying this stuff.' That's not the
case. I don't know what I will be able to do or
accomplish. But to the best of my abilities I hope to
make this last third of my life the most interesting
and the most fun. I mean, I've got the Stones on my
Ipod, but I've also got rap . . . I don't do well
with boredom. Trust me. It's not my strong point.
I've gotta live every minute of every day. I'm a big
enjoyment, fun person."

As of this writing, McGarry's biography remains on
NBC5's website, but likely not for long. And her
latest Facebook page post is an upbeat one: "OK,
it's possible that I could eat a whole pie tonight
:)"

It's right above the one from Steve Cosgrove, who
laments, "A sad day in local TV news......very
sad....."

In an intriguing Sunday night battle, the closing 8
to 9:15 portion of the Rangers-A's game had 325,157
viewers on Fox Sports Southwest, out-kicking that
portion of NBC's Olympic trials (291,286 viewers).

But the Rangers' overall game average of 270,964
viewers ranked second Sunday night to the 8 to 10
p.m. portion of the trials (304,835 viewers). NBC's
trials (and tribulations) beat the Rangers in every
15-segment from 8:15 to 9:15 p.m. among
advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. It was a tie
from 8 to 8:15 p.m.

On Sunday afternoon, ESPN's telecast of the European
soccer cup final between victorious Spain and Italy
averaged 176,127 total viewers in beating all
competing programming. Soccer also carried the
afternoon with 18-to-49-year-olds.

Saturday night's Rangers-A's game on Fox was a
dominant force throughout, averaging 291,286 total
viewers while crushing all of the day's programming
in the 18-to-49 demographic.

On Friday night, TXA21's Rangers-A's game had 257,416
viewers in easily outdrawing all of that day's
programming. The game also topped the 18-to-49
ratings. NBC's 8 to 10 p.m. portion of the Olympic
trials took the silver with 155,804 total viewers
while also placing second for the day with
18-to-49-yer-olds.

In Friday's local news derby results, NBC5 ran first
at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and
25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target
audience for news programming.

Fox4 won at 6 a.m. in total viewers, but the Peacock
had the edge with 25-to-54-year-olds. In the
less-watched 5 to 6 a.m. hour, CW33's Eye
Opener pulled off a first by placing first with
25-to-54-year-olds ahead of runner-up NBC5. Eye
Opener slipped to fourth place in the 6 a.m.
hour, but still easily beat CBS11.

WFAA8 ran the table at 5 p.m.; the 6 p.m. golds went
to WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54
demographic.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom
Dallas Film Commission director Janis Burklund is
accustomed to adversity when it comes to enticing and
keeping network TV productions in North Texas.

But setbacks are in her distant rear view mirror
after landing the big one Friday. TNT's decision to
renew Dallas for a second
season -- while upping its episode order from
10 to 15 -- is a gusher for the area film
community and the Dallas economy.

"Although the Fourth of July is coming, it sort of
feels more like Christmas to me," Burklund said in
email comments sent to unclebarky.com. "Working with
the Dallas production team has been a dream.
And I don't expect to wake up in the second season
and find that the first was only a dream either!."

The decision to both green-light Dallas and
keep filming the series in its namesake city pretty
much makes up for all that might have been had other
network drama series been successful.

At one point in 2010, Fox's The Good Guys and
Lone Star, and NBC's The Chase all were
filming simultaneously in the Dallas area. But
cancellation notices came quickly, particularly in
the case of Lone Star, which lasted just two
episodes.

ABC's legal drama The Deep End, also filmed in
North Texas, likewise met a quick demise. And the
network's GCB (short for Good Christian
Bitches) opted to film in Los Angeles after
shooting the pilot in Dallas. It's also been
canceled.

A proposed Dallas feature film, with John
Travolta initially signed to play J.R. Ewing, also
was off and on for years before falling apart. It
makes the success of TNT's Dallas a
long-awaited bonanza.

"We've truly enjoyed a real partnership with the
producers and I have believed in this project since
reading the initial pilot script," Burklund said.
"That's not something I can say about other
Dallas scripts I've read through the years.
(Co-executive producer/head writer) Cynthia Cidre has
done a terrific job of blending what was great about
the original series in with the new."

Burklund also said that her bosses within the city's
Office of Economic Development "have supported the
efforts to land and keep this show here. They've
truly 'gotten it' like never before . . . The city
could not afford to purchase anywhere near this type
of advertising. Being a character itself in the show
is not something you can just buy."

Burklund vividly recalls the night that Cidre and
co-executive producer Michael Robin became city of
Dallas converts.

"We walked out of dinner the first night of the
'scout,' and the city skyline was glimmering in front
of us as we walked towards the car," Burklund said.
"Cynthia and Mike stopped in their tracks, and Mike
stretched his arms in the air, hands far apart and
said, 'This is our show!' I know that sounds corny,
but it's true."

Burklund estimated that another 15 episodes shot on
location in and around the city "will likely amount
to approximately $18 million in direct spending and
an economic impact somewhere north of $40 million.
It's very rewarding to know that at least some of our
cast and crew will be able to stay home to work for a
while, and we're doing everything we can to help make
that a long while."

Dallas, which airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
(central), will hit the halfway mark of its first
season on July 4th. TNT will repeat the first four
episodes from 4 to 8 p.m. on that day before No. 5
premieres.